Signing the first pick before the draft?

[thunderkyss]

It's been the Texans preference to sign the #1 overall before the draft. If I remember right, we were told that was part of the reason we went with Mario Williams.

However, the Texans have said they are open to trading that #1 pick.

I don't think the two ideologies jive with each other. Do you think the Texans will relax on the idea of signing the #1 overall or trading the #1?

 

[Wolf6151]

I think the NFL frowns on teams signing the #1 pick prior to the draft as it takes some wind out of their draft day sails. I also think the Texans will be pumping up guys like Clowney in order to facilitate a trade down on draft day.

 

[WolverineFan]

With the new CBA and rookie wage scale, there is no more reason to haggle over price with players before the draft and no need to hash out terms beforehand either.

 

[Troy Chapman]

With the new CBA and rookie wage scale, there is no more reason to haggle over price with players before the draft and no need to hash out terms beforehand either.

Yep. The #1 pick contract is fully guaranteed for 4 years with a team option 5th. The only area to haggle over is offset money.

 

[IDEXAN]

Yep. The #1 pick contract is fully guaranteed for 4 years with a team option 5th. The only area to haggle over is offset money.

So what is the so called "slotted" money for each of the first 3-5 picks, and what's the "offset money" ?